Bush stresses Iran time pressure (recycled rhetoric-wks vs months)

Iran must give an answer within weeks to an international offer of incentives to suspend its nuclear programme, the US president has said.

George W Bush said Iran had to respond to the offer in "weeks, not months", a first clear time frame since the offer. Major powers want Iran to curb uranium enrichment in return for relaxing restrictions on trade and agriculture.

Separately, Austria's EU president said on Friday that Iran had to respond by the time of the G8 summit in July. Speaking alongside the Danish prime minister at his retreat in Camp David, Maryland, Mr Bush repeated that Iran would face consequences if it failed to respond.

"We've given the Iranians a limited period of time - you know, weeks, not months - to digest a proposal to move forward. And if they choose not to verifiably suspend their programme, then there will be action taken within the UN Security Council," he said.,,(more@link)